walmart
o Focusing excessively on your marketing message
o Comments and comments restricted to “Wall Posts” and heavily moderated.
o Deviate from your core brand value of deep discounts to give fashion/style/flavor advice to Facebook users
o 2,000 members participated in their questionnaire

Goal
o Open a discussion forum and allow two-way conversation.
o Spend time understanding how Facebook users were interacting with each other and how they were turning down the volume of their marketing messages.
o 7,176 members, 409 photos, 483 pots and 37 discussion groups organized

While Target launched a successful marketing campaign on Facebook, Wal-Mart also tried Internet marketing on Facebook again, but with little success.
So why did Wal-Mart fail? A big mistake was assuming that social internet marketing is similar to the traditional offline medium. In offline marketing, the winner is usually the one with the highest volume on their marketing message. However, in social marketing, it is often the best listener who enjoys the most success.

While Target engaged users through discussion forums, Wal-Mart decided to restrict the dialogue to “Wall Posts” and heavily moderated what was allowed. This backfired immediately as users soon noticed the lack of two-way dialogue and a torrent of anti-Wal-Mart comments began. By contrast, Target had students be part of their discussion group and shape the dialogue around them rather than themselves.

Another big mistake Wal-Mart made was straying from its core identity as a deep-discount supermarket. Wal-Mart tried to engage users by offering fashion and style advice that didn’t sit well with Facebook users. Instead of focusing on their core value proposition of deep discounts by offering deep discounts on school supplies and thinking of ways to disarm critics, they choose to do the opposite.

Wal-Mart has always been a lightning rod because of its corporate reputation and labor practices. They should know that the moment they go social, negative comments and criticism will be an integral part of the campaign they will have to manage. But instead of opening up and engaging users, they tried to restrict dialogue and focused on a one-way communication plan.

The different tactics resulted in very different results. Wal-Mart received at least 2,000 members who participated in its roommate contest and other activities. Target, on the other hand, attracted more than 7,176 members who posted more than 410 photos and 483 posts. Target also hosted a total of 37 focus groups throughout the campaign period.

Forrester analyst Owyang explained that the issue had to do with strategy. “Wal-Mart’s strategy seems to be more of an interactive website design, which is evident because it doesn’t use the discussion forum. The goal is to engage the students so that they are part of the group.”

Embracing website design in a social environment is like sticking a nail in your leg. Limiting conversation in a social setting and positioning themselves as something they weren’t meant to kill Wal-Mart’s social internet marketing campaign from the moment it was conceived.